Cars: Lightspeed
by SilverLightSpeed
Summary: When Lightning McQueen returns home from a competitive racing season to discover that there are cars much faster then he ever thought possible, all bearing the insignia 'Lightspeed', he becomes interested and embarks on a journey to discover the source of their incredible speed. An epic tale from the World of Cars, It's time for Lightning to discover Lightspeed.
1. McQueen's Discovery

**It's time for a new story in the World Of Cars!**

 **This is only the beginning of what lies ahead for Lightning and friends...**

* * *

Lightning McQueen.

He'd won, won after that and then went on to win again. He seemed unstoppable. He was unstoppable. Sure, he'd had an accident here and there and one particularly nasty crash which put him and a fellow racer in the hospital, but they both survived with amazingly minimal long-term damage and went on to compete again, undaunted by the past.

He'd also managed to put Radiator Springs back on the map, bringing success to his friends there, and he'd survived an elaborate plot to kill him he hadn't even known about, although that was mostly thanks to his best friend, Mater.

Mater was on McQueen's mind today as he drove into Radiator Springs, which proudly bore a sign that read 'Home Of Lightning McQueen'. Lightning grinned as he saw a wooden sign hanging below it which read 'The best race car EVER!'. Lightning knew immediately that Mater had put that sign there. He made a mental note to thank Mater when he saw him. McQueen had recently left on a racing trip, and although his soon-to-be wife Sally (whom he had proposed to at the tear-jerking final race) had accompanied him, Mater and the rest of his friends had stayed behind.

Although they had missed McQueen, they were soon glad they had stayed when a terrible fire broke out that would have burnt the entire town to the ground if it wasn't for the efforts of every single car. Lightning had heard the news while he was away, and although Sally had flown home before him and called him to tell him that the town looked like nothing had ever happened, he was only now content seeing it for himself. He wasn't sure where Mater would be today, but he knew that Mater wouldn't be hard to find. He was Mater, after all. He was often the first familiar face Lightning saw upon returning home.

Sometimes, Mater had even came with him on his travels. Lightning decided the best way to find his friend was to simply let his friend find him. So he waited in a single spot for about 5 minutes until something caught his eye. And _something_ really was the best description he had, until he saw- lightning. _That_ was of course his best description, or at least his favorite one. But it wasn't lightning coming down from the sky. It was travelling along the road in the same formation that a car would. As a matter of fact, it was multiple small bolts of lightning, moving so fast that even McQueen could barely see them. So he decided to do something bold. He drove in front of the lightning.

Big mistake.

Lightning spiraled out of control, his wheels rotating over and over until finally he crashed into a brick wall, which hurt, but allowed him to regain control. Lightning looked over at what had hit him, and he saw-

He definitely saw a car.

There was no mistaking it. It was another car that had hit him, somehow driving at such a high speed that they appeared to be a bolt of energy. And multiple bolts means multiple cars. The car quickly regained their speed, but not before McQueen saw a large word emblazoned on their side.

 _Lightspeed._

"Lightspeed?" McQueen wondered aloud. He grinned. "Y'know, that would be a good name for my son if I ever have one. Lightspeed McQueen. He'd grow up just like his pops."

"Don't get too ahead of yourself, Stickers." Sally said, driving up to him. McQueen felt embarrassed wondering if Sally had seen him crash into a wall. "I, er, didn't notice ya there Sal." McQueen said honestly. "Did you see that?" he asked, wondering if Sally had seen the mysterious car. Sally laughed. "See what, you spiral into a wall for no apparent reason? Yeah, I saw it. You might want to get that checked out." McQueen shot her a confused look. "You didn't see it? The bolt of lightning? And I'm not talking about myself when I race." he said with a sly smile. Sally seemed to have no idea what he was talking about. "There were multiple bolts, which were actually cars, and one of them just hit me. They looked like bolts because they were so fast. I think." McQueen said with a little uncertainty.

"By the way, have you seen Mater?"

As Sally told him where she had last seen Mater, Lightning listened carefully, but there was one word taking dominance in his mind.

 _Lightspeed._


	2. Lightspeed

**Hey guys! I'm back with a new chapter of Cars: Lightspeed.**

 **I've got another chapter of this and another chapter of a different story coming before Christmas, then I might take a Christmas break.**

 **I'll make sure to keep you all updated.**

* * *

 _It was dark. Very dark._

The newest addition to Lightspeed, Chick Hicks felt a little uncertainty. He was finally going to be faster than McQueen could ever imagine. But he couldn't see anything, and the only feeling he had was a vague sensation of pain as parts of him were removed.

This kind of surgery was strictly illegal, which is why there had been so much tension throughout Lightspeed and it's members. Apparently, Chick had heard, Lightning McQueen had spotted one of them. And Lightspeed, he had been reminded, _could not be discovered._ Upon his acceptance, he was reminded that over and over, and that he would be punished for failure. The member who had been seen was quickly removed from the organization and, presumably, killed. Chick felt a slight pang of regret at having volunteered for Lightspeed, but he quickly cast it away, reminding himself that this was his destiny. But then the member who had been 'disposed of' returned to his memory.

Chick winced at the thought, realizing quickly that wincing was very strange when you couldn't see. Cars weren't killed very often. Sure, it had happened, but it wasn't frequent. You could always feel tension in the air wherever you went, if the cars there knew someone had died. Eventually he could see again, and he deduced that the temporary blindness must've had to do with the surgery.

They didn't replace his eyes of course, that simply couldn't be done. Unless Lightspeed knew how. But he'd felt the presence of his eyes through the whole operation, although he couldn't see through them. Now that he could once again see, he watched as he was placed on his wheels (which, he noticed, were new wheels) in the center of a circle of other cars by a machine of some kind.

The cars sped away, and Chick knew that he was intended to race them. So he did. He drove faster than he had ever thought possible, already surpassing multiple of the other cars. But then he became overwhelmed with horror.

He was driving straight into a wall.

Chick screamed. Soon he would be injured badly, or perhaps even dead himself. But to his surprise, neither of those things happened. He found himself vibrating through the wall, still maintaining his immense speed. Chick was shocked as he entered a whole new room, where important-looking cars stared at him in awe.

Chick too stared dumbfoundedly as he realized one of the cars was the leader of Lightspeed. The leader had a different form of identification. Instead of the 'LIGHTSPEED' insignia that was now on Chick's sides and hood, he simply had 'Leader' written on his hood, using capital and lowercase letters instead of the usual all-capital letters. The leader drove toward Chick and began to speak. "Welcome, Chick Hicks, to the board room. Here we make executive decisions regarding Lightspeed.

We were not expecting you to find this room, as we have never seen a car phase through walls, even here. Since you're already here, we might as well tell you that this room is normally accessible through a high-security door hidden somewhere within this base. If you should reach level 10 clearance with us here at Lightspeed, we will reveal the location to you. Please exit the room the way you entered. If you manage to do so, you will be automatically promoted to level 5 clearance." Chick decided to try to vibrate again. He began to shake himself from side to side, picking up speed with each shake, until finally he was vibrating again.

He drove through the wall, exiting the room, and was immediately greeted by a robotic arm which placed a durable sticker reading 'Level 5' on his hood.

Chick grinned. "Nice." he said aloud.

He began to race all around the unfamiliar area he was in, feeling a rush of power. The leader of Lightspeed had referred to this place as a 'base', and so Chick assumed that it was Lightspeed's main base of operations, if the leader was present. Obviously, things happened very fast around here. As soon as his 'surgery' was done, the leader was already in the board room officially adding Chick to the Lightspeed roster.

Chick began to wonder what Lightspeed would want him to commit to. Now that he had the upgrade, he wanted to show the whole world that no one was faster than him now and leave this creepy place far behind. But then he realized that Lightspeed surely held races. And he also realized Lightspeed would track him down if he tried to break away. This base was underground, he could tell. McQueen had spotted the unidentified Lightspeed member _above_ ground, he remembered. Perhaps Lightspeed held races on the surface? Chick was heavily considering going back into the board room to ask, but that would be at the risk of his newly acquired level 5 clearance, given to him for his _fantastic ability_ , Chick reminded himself.

He was curious of something, however. Whether he liked it or not, Lightning was famous, he _did_ have quite a few victories, and- for a normal car- he was admittedly pretty fast. Chick wondered if Lightning would be approached by Lightspeed in the future. What if Lightning had the operation, and then developed his own set of abilities?

Chick would just have to prove to Lightspeed that McQueen wasn't necessary.

* * *

Sally had just told McQueen that she had seen Mater at Flo's V8 Cafe, and so that was where Lightning was headed. As he drove in, he found Mater and the rest of his friends huddled around a TV which was replaying a clip over and over. As Lightning drove closer, he realized whatever camera had captured the footage now on the screen had picked up the bolt-of-lightning cars he had seen. No one seemed to notice that Lightning was there.

"Hello?" Lightning said almost inquisitively.

No response.

"Hey, Mater! Thanks for the addition to the Radiator Springs Sign!" He said, trying to catch his friend's attention.  
But yet again, there was no response. 

Then Mater spoke. "Does anyone else hear Lightning?"  
Sheriff moved slightly. "I thought so too, but we must just be hearing things. The camera car recording Lightning's re-entrance into Radiator Springs shut off the camera after the crash- it looked like an explosion, Mater."

Lightning tried talking again. "Guys, it's really me. It wasn't an explosion, it was just a small crash. The lightning- which was actually other cars, by the way, messed with the visual.

And that was when his friends finally turned around to welcome him back to Radiator Springs.

* * *

 **What does Chick have planned? What does Lightspeed have planned for _him?_ And what do Lightning's friends think of the mysterious cars?**

 **Find out in the next chapter of Cars: Lightspeed.**


	3. Chick's Plan

**Hey everyone! It's been _way_ too long since the last chapter of Cars: Lightspeed. Did anyone see that new teaser? It was basically a Hot Wheels commercial with Pixar Cars, but it was still cool to see Jackson and Cruz's designs in high-quality 3D. And I'm pretty sure there's a new trailer coming January 9.**

 **Anyway, time for more _Cars: Lightspeed!_**

* * *

"What, you thought I was _dead_?" Lightning said, nearly laughing. "A crash isn't gonna keep me down!" Sherrif chuckled slightly, but his laughter faded as a thought occurred to him.

"A crash _could_ keep you down, Lightning. Especially with whatever's out there." Lightning grated his tires frustratedly into the floor, sending sparks and chips of wood high into the air. "I can't stay huddled up hiding in fear from these guys! They're faster than me, and they'll ruin my career unless I get out there and pitch another race to my sponsors! It won't be ideal, but every racer who cares about their career would support that race. What happens if these 'Lightspeed' guys decide to go public? What then? None of us 'normal' racers will be of any interest anymore! All anyone's going to care about is watching these abnormally fast cars!" Lightning revved backwards to avoid ripping Flo's entire floor out.

"I'll cover the damages. And I'd love to stay longer, but I have to get to my sponsors. I'm sorry guys, I really am. I know you all were expecting me to stick around for a while. I was too. But everything I love is about to be taken away, and I can't let that happen."

Lightning sped off into the distance, but not before hearing a few words from Mater.

"Lightning, we're not gonna be taken away. No matter what."

Lightning looked back at his friend. "If Lightspeed's intentions are malevolent, they might come after you. Stay safe and this'll all be over soon."

Lightning had never been farther from the truth.

 **-Lightspeed HQ-**

Chick was racing in circles around a- fittingly enough- circular track he had discovered behind another wall in the Lightspeed HQ. Looking around, he saw that near the track was a locked door. Must be another one of those hidden rooms, he thought to himself. Not wanting to have to explain to any officials, Chick phased through the wall and turned around to face the of side of the door that opened to reveal the room he had just been in. There was a sign on the door that read "Level 4 clearance required."

Chick grinned to himself as he realized he could enter as he pleased. But he should still try to go through doors before walls in the future.

All this racing around Lightspeed HQ was fun, but Chick was getting bored. Frankly, considering Lightning didn't have the upgrade and there were plenty of normal cars for Chick to race, was this Lightspeed membership even worth it? Chick mumbled grumpily to himself as he contemplated whether or not he should look into having the entire operation reversed. Frankly, that was probably possible. But it never hurt to double-check.

Chick began his signature vibrating motion and began searching behind the various walls for some kind of clue. In particular, he was looking for files. The files would either convince him to stay with Lightspeed or tell him how to get out. He came to one room with cabinets, and at the sound of someone's tires coming closer he quickly dove behind the wall and waited, staying as quiet as possible to avoid being noticed. After the noise quieted down, Chick got to work. He began searching the cabinets, digging up several files and reading through them in a blur thanks to his heightened speed. Chick decided that if he was going to try to leave Lightspeed, he was going to plan an escape. The speed was just too good to give up.

Some of the files Chick read detailed races, but after checking the dates of documentation, Chick discovered that they were all races that had taken place years ago. In fact, 58 years ago Lightspeed tried to appear to the public. Chick was surprised they'd been around that long, but what interested him the most was how the government had been able to cover it up so well. Those government cars weren't always the best at that kind of thing, even if it _was_ their job. Maybe there was a Lightspeed member in the government. The more Chick though about it, the more it made sense.

If a member of Lightspeed were doing government work, chances are they'd have the names of the fastest and toughest on the track, as well as cars who might be considered "nobodies" who Lightspeed saw potential in. It made so much sense it practically hurt. But that would also explain how Lightspeed managed to track down any car who tried to escape. Chick shuddered. Escape, although possible, would not be easy. But Chick wanted to escape. What was the point of doing work for Lightspeed when Chick could have his speed all to himself?

Chick noticed the door handle turning and quickly sped through the wall and out of the room. Unfortunately, the car opening the door heard Chick and looked straight at him. Only instead of looking at him, he was actually looking _through_ him. Using his newfound skill, Chick could turn invisible. Perhaps escape from Lightspeed would be possible. But although Chick could escape right now if he truly tried, the car he was looking at seemed important, and considering that Chick was invisible, he followed the mysterious car back into the room.

 _Uh-oh._

Chick had forgot to clean up the files. The files and their folders were strewn carelessly about the room, and whoever this car was obviously would soon see it. The car, of course, did, and then proceeded to pull out a file. The file read 'Watch List'. One look inside and Chick new it wasn't a good kind of watch list. It was more like Santa Car's naughty list. Chick would never admit it, but he believed in Santa Car. How else did coal always get in his house on Christmas Morning?

Chick wasn't sure why whoever this car was had decided to pull out the watch list, until he saw his own name being added to it.

 _Uh-oh_ , Chick thought again.

* * *

 **Hopefully at least most of what I said would be in this chapter was in here. Expect more frequent updates going forward! :)**


	4. The LML

**I'm finally back with another chapter of Cars: Lightspeed! There are going to be longer chapters in the future, but since I'm going to be busy soon I wanted to give you guys the next chapter right here, right now!**

 **:)**

* * *

Now Chick was panicking. Being 'terminated' from Lightspeed was _not_ something he was very interested in learning about. How did this car know that it was _him_ who had been in the room anyway? Maybe it was because only Chick could make that kind of an escape.

Or maybe it was- "Ow!"

Chick felt a sharp pain and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, one look around told him he wasn't invisible anymore.

"Alright, alright, Mister Watch-list. Ya got me. Howd'ya even know I was here? Y'know, you gotta admit that I'm good. I'm good, aren't I? You think I'm good. I can see it in your face. In fact, I'm so good, you're just gonna let me go and-"

The other car's tire quickly covered Chick's mouth. "Stop talking or I'm gonna have to knock you out. And for the record, if you were so good, my sensors wouldn't have picked you up." Chick stared at the other car flabbergasted. "Sensors?" he croaked.

"Level 7 Lightspeed clearance. It's a shame you jumped ship so soon. You could've gotten them too."

Whoever this guy was wasn't helping Chick's confusion. "Jumped ship? Yeah, I was messing around in these files. But I didn't go nowhere or expose anything! C'mon! Do me a solid!"

The other car showed no emotion. "Listen. My name is Craig. Just Craig." Chick smirked. "Your name is Just Craig? Ok, Just Craig, whaddya want?"

Craig rolled his eyes. "No. It's simply Craig. And you're with me now. Or should I say- us."

Chick was getting more confused by the second. "And who is us, exactly?"

Craig spoke firmly. "Members of Lightspeed that want to leave- or more appropriately, escape. We call ourselves LML. That's Leaving Members of Lightspeed."

Chick wasn't about to tell Craig his true plans when this could all be a test. "Prove it." Those simple words probably wouldn't alert any Lightspeed members to his plan.

Craig marked one of the files with his tire. "I know you read this. Anyone who has knows more than Lightspeed will ever tell anyone except the board."

Chick slowly took in the information. "Right, the board. I remember those guys."

Craig's patience returned. "Good. Within this organization are many LML members. Our little group is about the only thing we've managed to keep hidden from the board. If I had been any other car, you would have been terminated from Lightspeed as soon as this mess was found. But here at LML, we look out for each other. We all get out together- or die trying." Chick cringed at the last part. "Right. Because if they catch us- yeah, I don't want to think about it."

"You might as well join us now." Craig said. "We understand not everyone here is a team player, but none of us can escape by ourselves. Even if you think you can, you can't. Lightspeed is too heavily fortified."

Chick needed to ask something that had been on his mind. "Is it true that Lightspeed wants to take over the racing industry?" Craig sighed. "It's in their plans, yes. Which is why we're not just going to escape Lightspeed-"

"We're going to destroy it."

* * *

McQueen should have known.

His sponsors didn't have much interest in a random race out of nowhere just because Lightning claimed to have seen 'really fast cars'.

Claims of Lightspeed were, unfortunately, hard to back up. Even the footage of the car McQueen had seen looked like McQueen blowing up and nothing else.  
To further his bad day, on the way back to Radiator Springs, which he had decided to return to so he could be with his friends while they thought up a plan, the roads were profusely wet. Maybe, Lightning thought, if no one believed in Lightspeed there wouldn't be a problem. The races would just keep going the way they were with normal race-cars. But then, if Lightspeed decided to show up, there would be no plan to keep normal races around.

Maybe people would be afraid of Lightspeed, or see it as some kind of trick, like a magic show. But the possibility of them becoming the new racing entertainment was crushing. Maybe the cars would be too fast to record? Lightning decided that basing his plan on hope and chance was too risky.

One way or another, he'd figure it out when he got back to Radiator Springs-

 _Where was Radiator Springs?_

As Lightning drove close to where Radiator Springs usually appeared in the distance, it just wasn't there.

But then he saw it. Lightning of sorts was encircling Radiator Springs, making it barely visible.  
McQueen knew exactly what it was.

Sure enough, a car came out of the lightning and spoke to him.

"Hello, McQueen."

"Welcome to Lightspeed."

McQueen's eyes widened.

 _It couldn't be._

It was a trap. Join Lightspeed and Radiator Springs would be released. Refuse, and face the consequences.

 _This is bad._

 _Really, really bad._

* * *

 **Will Lightning McQueen make it out of this mess? And if so, how? And at what cost?**

 **Find out in the next chapter of Cars: Lightspeed!**


End file.
